It Looks Like Fire
by MooseSupremacy
Summary: College is supposed to be the highlight of young adulthood. "Supposed to" being the key words here.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Ember**

If there is one thing that makes time seem infinite, it is lecture, he decided. His brain hurt. First of all, Neku was relatively sure that you shouldn't even be able to feel your brain on a general basis, it should just sort of be there. Second, he was damn sure that it should _ache_ like this. It wasn't even because the material was challenging or complex, he would have preferred if it was, the material was soul-rendingly boring. He could name three forms of torture off the top of his head that he would much rather deal with right now.

Glancing around, he tried to gather what was left of his sanity. It was a smaller than average class, of which he was thankful. He couldn't even begin to contemplate a class that had every seat full of attentive, interested students. There were supposed to be fifty people for this lecture. Thirty or so showed up the first day and the number dwindled downward from that. Twenty five now showed up with some regularity, but only a few of those were present today and they were all various degrees of zombie.

Three minutes had passed since he glared at the clock. 180 seconds. _How?_

Now 181, 182, 183…

Tomorrow was a test day, the first one of the course. When the professor first announced that there were only going to be four tests, the class (or what remained) cheered. However, each test covered more than six chapters of material and the four total tests accounted for fifty percent of the overall grade. The students calmed down quickly after that. Today was a review over six chapters of material, which meant that he was learning absolutely nothing in high speed. Joy of joys.

Neku wondered which twisted bastard thought that algebra and beginning calculus is an acceptable and applicable topic for students who are going into an _art major._ Sure, it's a core requirement but on what universe does solving page long problems for a variable become an everyday occurrence? He could never wrap his head around it.

The instructor, a round, obtuse man with seemingly no distinction between head and torso had a voice like a congested bullfrog. Vomiting out mathematic words in corpulent fashion for his own amusement. There was one student, a front-row attender, who listened attentively and asked the questions that the teacher wanted to hear. Some dude named Sho. He had dark hair and complexion, paired with an annoying confidence in the subject that showed he obviously didn't need this class. Neku glared holes into the back of his skull, hoping that the showoff would suddenly burst into flames. Mental images of a flaming Sho screaming integers while flailing around on fire interrupted his hatred, causing a bemused grin to appear.

His seat was the one in the last row, farthest right corner, against the wall. He suspected that there was a proximity factor in effect for the grades of the class. Sho sitting in the front row, a girl with round glasses in the second, one guy who always seemed to be sleeping under his black beanie in the third, a few empty rows, and lastly Neku himself in the back. This appeared to be the crew that put at least a fourth of a shit of concern into this class. Other students occasionally filled the seats but not regularly enough that he knew any of them.

A sharp ringing pulled him out of his own mind after several eternities. It was the dismissal bell.

Only three more classes to attend.

At 4:42pm he finally staggered home and made a straight line for his room. Neku collapsed onto his bed, not even bothering to remove his shoes before falling face first onto a welcoming pile of pillows. He let out a discontented growl mixed with an irritated sigh. There are days and then there are _days._ It dawned on him that if he fell asleep now that he wouldn't be able to finish the essay for his English course, or study for the exam. But priorities demanded that sleep come ahead of anything else. Less a matter of 'would you like to sleep?' and more of 'find a place to fall, because you're going to be unconscious.' Plummeting off into slumber, the last recognizable thought was that he hoped the college would burn down before he woke up, or hoping he could bypass everything by slipping into a three year coma. And then have the college burn down.

* * *

"Sakuraba?" The voice croaked, stuffy with impatience.

"What-? Oh, here." He raised his hand signaling his presence.

Nodding briefly in acknowledgement, the professor went on to calling other names for attendance. Neku was baffled at why so many people showed up for test days when they didn't attend class. It was nearly full. Besides the vigilant few who always showed up, the rest were filled by people he assumed only congregated for the tests, he had not seen nor heard from any of them since the first day of class. Another wave of late people flooded in, settling in the remaining chairs and unpacking their war gear for the test and religiously scanning the review sheet for the last time.

Amongst those was a student Neku didn't recall seeing even on the first day. The student sat two chairs down from him, leaving a comfortable space between them so they wouldn't be rubbing elbows. Snobbish looking, he wore a light blue button up and black dress slacks. His hair was curly, but only at the tips, giving a multi-layered effect for the mane that was halfway between grey and blonde. Neku wondered why he didn't have a backpack, or even a book from another class with him. All the newcomer seemed to have with him was a pencil that he twirled idly with one hand. Suddenly feeling much better about the future result of his grade in comparison with whoever this was, he leaned back and relaxed as the exams and answer sheets were being passed around.

There is something to be said about the communal fear that lingers in a classroom when an extremely frustrating exam is in session. Very similar to the crew of a sinking ship going down together instead of abandoning the rest of the mates to their unfortunate end. Of course, there is that one traitor who throws the curve by getting an A and floats off in their life boat, but for the most part it's a mutual feeling of drowning.

When it comes to how much time is needed for a test, it is black and white. Meaning that those who get done first either have it mastered or have absolutely no idea what they are doing and fill in the answer bubbles in whatever pattern looks appealing. Those who take a longer time either are completely lost and overthink each question or are methodically answering correctly. Neku found himself floating in between the two as half the class exited before him, an expression like they had French kissed the grim reaper stamped on their faces. The girl with round glasses looked especially defeated and as she was leaving the classroom, Neku gave her a sympathetic grimace. A tiny smile of acknowledgement later and she walked out.

Sho had been the first one to leave, handing in the test like he had signed an autograph. Neku could have sworn he heard him say 'zetta' something before scoffing. He thought that some people just need to chug a thing of bleach and do the rest of us a favor.

Having just finished his exam, Neku stood and walked towards the front of the class. The figure that sat two seats down from him got up from his seat as well, having finished around the same time. After putting the test and answer page together in a neat pile, he gave the mound to the teacher and followed suite as the rest of the students had – slow, shuffling into the hall. He had turned his back when the sound erupted into the quiet classroom,

"You didn't put your name on the test." Squawked the professor loudly, startling the students in the process of finishing their test.

Neku walked backed to the trash riddled desk and checked his pockets for a pencil or pen. Upon not finding one, he realized he put the rest of his school materials in his backpack. The newcomer was standing to the side watching this occur when he offered his writing utensil, giving a melodramatic sigh as if giving away his first born, he offered the pencil to Neku.

"Here, use it. But you'll owe me one." There was an arrogance that Neku had the urge to break with his fists.

"_Ass._" He muttered under his breath, accepting the pencil for the sake of ease.

The guy blinked pointedly, "You're welcome."

Neku shifted his belongings and hurried out the class as quickly as possible without looking like he was running. At least this was the only test today, he considered.

* * *

As to be expected, the next day fewer people showed up, and it returned to the ghost town state with the exception, Neku noticed, of the slacker. The guy sat bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in nauseating enthusiasm. A single 135 question test could have not rekindled some ancient fascination in mathematics for a student who hadn't ever attended class. There must be some type of insidious motive for him showing up. He had a sneaking suspicion it was to irritate him. He was almost right.

Half way into the class, the charade of being interested in the material quickly vanished. Like the rest of the unfortunates, he too had a general aura of apathy. He peered over at Neku curiously and asked in a voice low enough to not be scolded by the bullfrog.

"So… art major, hm? Graphic design or retro?"

Taken aback, firstly by the fact that he guessed correctly and second that the guy that the nerve to even talk to him. Neku answered in a similarly hushed tone,

"None of your damn business."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Just trying to be friendly."

"Yeah, well, go be _friendly_ somewhere else."

"If you were curious, it's easy to guess someone's major when the page labeled 'notes' is filled with doodles and fairly well drawn pictures."

"Piss off. And stop looking at my stuff." Neku closed the notebook defensively.

He paused for a moment, considering the haughty redhead with amusement, "Are you always this pleasant or have I caught you on an especially good day?"

"Stop talking to me."

"My my, aren't you just full of rainbows and sunshine?" He laughed. The airy, flamboyant giggle was accompanied by him flipping a section of hair out of his view.

Neku didn't bother gracing his question with an answer. Maybe, he thought, if he ignored the prick, he would go away. He couldn't believe he was missing the days when it was just him setting on the back row, being bored to death. What a wonderful time that must have been.

"I'm Joshua, but you can call me Josh, if you so wish."

"Joshua, huh? Oh, okay," He retorted, "Go fuck yourself, Josh."

Ignoring the statement entirely, he continued on, unfazed. "Not even going to introduce yourself? How rude, Neku."

"How the hell do you know my name?!" The words came out louder than he intended, mostly due to shock.

Despite nearly shrieking, the class surprisingly didn't react much, and the professor stared blankly in his direction before rambling on with an aggressive hand gesture trying to describe the slope of a line. Neku figured that the rest of the poor saps must be brain dead by now from listening to this crap, otherwise they would have been startled. Unsurprisingly, the single person who responded was the same one the statement had been directed at.

"Don't worry, I haven't been skimming through your personal files or anything… yet. Hehe." Again with that grating laugh, Neku's frown intensified as the reverse expression on Joshua increased. "I _was _standing right there when you signed your name on the test. Don't give me too much credit, now."

Right, that's it. He adjusted the backpack brimming with books over his shoulder and stood, pushing his chair in. Neku was fed up with this guy toying with him and embarrassing him. He could skip a day, what would it hurt? The professor sure as shit wouldn't notice it over his own ego, so hey, free day. There was a polite cough behind him. He didn't have to check to know who it was.

"Where are you headed, all of a sudden?"

"Nowhere. Mind your own fucking business."

"Oh? If you're not going anywhere important, I'm sure you won't mind if I tag along."

Neku stopped walking.

"What the ever loving fuck is your problem?!" Now he actually was yelling. He rounded on him in the empty hallway, setting the _I hope you die painfully_ glare to maximum. Joshua tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy.

"What's my problem? A better question would be '_what's _your _problem?'_ I was just trying to engage in friendly conversation and _you _got your panties in a bunch."

"I don't like being bothered, if you had two grey cells to rub together you'd have figured that out by now."

"Please, it's not like you were enraptured by that class." Joshua crossed his arms sulkily. "You were dying from boredom anyway, and I just happened to be a distraction."

Okay, shit, the kid had a point. Neku sneered. "It doesn't matter. I don't like people, regardless if they're trying to be friendly or not. So do me a favor, and fucking quit it. Better yet, go away entirely."

"Aren't we a misanthropic little flower? News flash, dear, nobody likes people. People don't even like people. I was bored, you were bored, seems like a match made in heaven to me. You can want to set me on fire all you like, but I still managed to get you thinking about something other than how much you hated that class."

"Did… did you just call me 'dear'?" He scrunched his face in confusion.

Joshua let his head fall back in disbelief, "After that inspirational drabble, you only caught the fact that I called you by a pet name? For shame, Neku. And don't feel too bad, I call everyone 'dear'."

"Look, Jacob-"

"It's Joshua."

"-Joshua, whatever, leave me alone. Seriously. I don't need some lecturing shithead following me around. So clear out. Please?"

Joshua beamed, "Well since you asked so nicely, and only insulted me a dozen or so times, I suppose I could take a leave of absence."

"Good." Neku started to head down the hall. He noticed that, to his amazement, Joshua really wasn't tracking him. Relieved, he continued homeward, convincing himself that he wasn't even a _little_ disappointed.

* * *

The next day, Friday, and there was not even a hair of the punk who had given him so much trouble. Neku didn't see him in the halls, in class, or anything. As much as he wanted to be celebratory, he kept getting the nagging feeling that Joshua was lurking around the corner somewhere, with that stupid giggle of his, just watching Neku to see if he screws up. Paranoid, yeah, but he couldn't help it. Everything about Joshua just gave off unsettling vibes. The afternoon progressed and he ran through his behavior the other day.

So sure, maybe he over reacted and was being a bit of a prick yesterday, but everyone has off days. It wasn't completely his fault, that test royally screwed him over. He had been three points, _three points,_ away from passing, but got marked off for something as trivial as forgetting to change the sign from negative to positive when all of the work had been done correctly. Failing the first test of the class is bound to put anyone in a bad mood.

Neku was on the fence between wanting to find Joshua and apologize, or hoping that his cantankerousness had spooked the guy off so he wouldn't have to. If he showed up on Monday, Neku made up his mind that he would at least attempt to be civil. Not friendly, god no, but at least apologize.

The weekend came and went, a brief relapse of oversleeping and relaxing before heading back to the coal mine of education.

* * *

A poetic cartoon character once said 'I hate Mondays', the mantra of all who attend school, college, or a hysteria inducing job like working behind a register. Neku, too, embraced this statement. Not looking forward to seeking out and speaking to Joshua, to be honest he was almost nervous about it. Partially due to the fact that it gave the creep an invitation to start bothering him again, plus he didn't want to seem overly sorry.

Neku walked into the stuffy classroom, taking note of the fact that the usual survivors were there. Joshua, however, was not. For the remainder of the lecture, he resided in familiar boredom, sketching ideas for another project he wanted to get started. He nearly forgot why he had been antsy. The class ended, he was preparing to go to his next, rinse, repeat. Today hadn't been as unbearable as previous days and he started to think that he wouldn't have to confront the prick and apologize.

He would give the campus one thing, though. It did have a pleasant amount of chairs, benches and other types of seats for students to rest on. Almost as if they knew how frequently people felt like dropping due to exhaustion and sleep deprivation. Amazing. The one next to the restrooms and water fountain usually had someone catching a few minutes of sleep on it. As to be expected, there was someone on the bench. A someone whom Neku had been hoping to avoid all day.

Approaching the seated figure, he noticed that Joshua was messing with his phone, completely drawn into whatever he was occupied with. The hallway felt like it grew longer during the trek over to the bench.

"Um, hey. Listen, Joshua, right? I know you were being a complete dick on Thursday, but I shouldn't have snapped. Sorry." He said, expecting some sort of reaction. There was none, Joshua continued to be transfixed by his device.

"Hello?" Neku tried again.

This time Joshua looked up, uninterested. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"Ugh, why did I even bother…"

"Because you finally realized how right I was. Took you long enough."

Neku rolled his eyes and sighed. He had been about to comment, saying _forget it, you're not worth my time_ when he recognized the beginnings of a smile. He was baiting him, trying to get him irritated. That little fucker.

"Are you ever serious about anything? Or do you purposely enjoy being an asshole?"

"Oh, sometimes." He shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm a bit of this and a bit of that. I'm a _very_ complicated person, dear."

" '_complicated'_ " Neku snorted in derision.

"Well done, you repeated what I just said. Gold star for you today, Neku." Joshua's expression lit up playfully for a second, but then changed to mild discomfort. He brought his free hand up to his face, using the back of it to dabble at his nose. When the hand came away, there was blood on it. "Ack, shit. Again with this? How annoying."

"Nosebleeds? And wow I was thinking the same thing about you." he remarked dryly, "great minds think alike."

Standing, Joshua headed towards the restroom, holding the bridge of his nose. "No, it's from the twelve lines of cocaine I just did. Of course that's what it is. You're just the king of observation, I see."

Neku started down the hall to his class again, before he was extremely late. He paused enough to tell Joshua that the Ladies Room was on the other side, received a middle finger salute, and proceeded onward in a surprisingly decent mood.

* * *

"How the hell do you still get nosebleeds in college? I thought that was an elementary school- falling off the monkey bars- sort of problem."

"I can't help it. It mainly happens when I'm around drop dead gorgeous gingers." Joshua said casually.

Neku stammered and lost any trace of forming a sensible reply. Seeing the person in the same row turn several shades of crimson, Joshua let loose a genuine laugh, far different from the sarcastic chuckle.

"I'm teasing! My god, if you're this easy to turn red, I'm going to have a field day."

"Shut up."

"Fine, fine, I'll keep my opinions to myself."

"Try keeping your blatantly perverted statements to yourself instead."

"Compliments, Neku, they're called compliments."

He sneered, "They're only compliments if someone hot says it, and means it."

Using his best doe-eyed expression, Joshua turned dramatically. "And who says I don't mean it?"

If Neku had been pink in the face before, he was certifiably maroon now. Joshua would have loved to reply; yet that would have required oxygen which he was severely lacking, due to the fact that he thought if he laughed any harder, he would die. Instead he wheezed and crumpled over on the desk, making that strange sound that is closer to squeaking than laughing.

This time though, the girl in the round glasses tossed a glance over her shoulder at the two citizens of the back row. She couldn't tell if they were best friends or if they hated each one another, but they sure did make a lot of noise. She didn't mind though, it kept her awake and amused. It had been around a week since the test and during that time, the spiky orange haired kid and the one she hadn't seen before chatted near ceaselessly. Most of it was low key arguing splashed with heavy sarcasm.

At first the professor had gotten after them for disrupting the class. Well, fat lot of good that did. Everyone in there was failing except for the math freak in the first row, so the instructor's warnings were going in one ear and out of the other. He gave up eventually. There was a pattern that she noticed among some of the guys, both back in high school and now here in college. If they get into a fight, it either ends with them being neutral or being closer friends. Gloomily, she wished that the same would occur with her and her best friend, as they were still not on speaking terms. Better to get it over with and go back to being buds.

Only able to take a certain amount of harassing from Joshua, Neku dismissed himself early. His antagonizer didn't even make an attempt to stop him, still too busy trying to control his erratic laughing.

* * *

~.~.~.~.~

~~~Author's Note:

If I'm completely honest, I really don't know where this is headed, but CollegeAU's are spilling out right and left over here. Seeing as I'm wrestling with 'higher education' myself. Maybe it'll be cute all the way through, who knows! I certainly don't yet. As always, thanks for reading, I do appreciate it. I'm bound to have missed some grammar/spelling errors, so my apologies.

Best of regards,

-Moose.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Kindling**

Stupid. It was stupid. Absolutely stupid and entirely unreasonable. He wished he could say with conviction that ever since he talked to a certain tittering idiot, his life had gotten worse by the day. Only he couldn't, because it hadn't. Quite the opposite, in truth. It was going on three weeks since he had first encountered him and Neku had begun to enjoy showing up to class, even if it were for a purpose not entirely educational. Somehow, it felt both longer and shorter at the same time.

Anyway, he tried to get back on his mentally indignant rant after being momentarily derailed, it was ridiculous! Neku had known him for less than a month and already they got along better than he and his old childhood friends did. Granted, that an outsider would think that they were ready to murder one another at the drop of a hat but none of it was serious. He wondered absently when acknowledging people you would consider friends with insults instead of greetings became commonplace. Back in the days of yore, otherwise known as middle school, calling someone _shithead_ would result in a call to the parents, suspension and a good stern talking to. Now for any number of reasons, it was a term of endearment. Go figure.

Following the train of thought onward, Neku narrowed his eyes while thinking. Joshua had this habit of calling him nicknames at every opportune moment. At first it had been an irritating, belittling trait, then a passing annoyance, and currently it didn't register with him at all. It had ceased to be aggravating and simply a part of Joshua's vernacular. However, there was one part of it that dawned on Neku with equal parts confusion and embarrassment. Despite what had been claimed by Josh when they first talked, Neku had never heard him call anyone else by 'dear'. He wasn't sure what to make of that. He was definitely going to use that against him tomorrow. Neku reached forward and pulled the string hanging from the light fixture above his bed, instantly drenching him in a satisfying darkness.

* * *

"What's up, dipshit?" He asked, pulling his chair up the desk. Neku sat down with a grin.

Joshua looked up from his phone, "You're actually cognizant and responding at- what is it now- 10:36? It's a Christmas miracle."

"It's September, idiot."

"It's an expression." He countered but let his gaze be drawn back to the device in hand and left it at that.

Neku waited for further bickering to ensure, yet he was disappointed. Joshua was firmly focused on whatever he was doing with his phone. Trying to find a tool to engage him in conversation, he questioned loudly,

"Sending dick pics are we?"

He waved him off dismissively, "No such luck. Sorry, dear."

Ah-hah! The perfect chance to bring up his vocal grievances. Neku had been on the verge of starting to say what was on his mind when the phone rang in Joshua's hands. He stood up and said shortly, "I've got to take this." Bringing to phone up to the side of his head, he quickly strode from the room.

If the change in demeanor and tone hadn't been a deterrent from inquiring, the speed at which he left certainly was. But reminded of his own personality when they had bitched at each other in the halls, Neku thought it was only just to return the favor. Pushing in his seat at the desk, Neku pursued him.

Luckily, there was a square glass porthole in the door to the class, allowing him to determine which direction Joshua had turned. He had made towards the restroom at the end of the hall. Neku had stepped into the corridor at the right time to see his friend vanishing into the facilities.

As Neku neared the door, he heard snippets of the conversation between him and whoever it was. It caused him to pause at the door listening, instead of bursting in yelling profanities.

"-And yes, I'm sure." Joshua heaved a sigh in response to whatever was said on the other end of the line. "You know how she is. Look, that's what she said. I'm fairly confident she meant it."

"Probably, but what does it matter if she was? She still meant it, she just wouldn't have had the guts to say it if she wasn't." He sounded bitter.

"I don't know. I'll figure something out. Or not. Who knows?_"_ It was halted momentarily by a cynical laugh, _"_I'm sure I can do better than a newspaper tent, but thank you for your concern_." _This was followed by a pause long enough that Neku nearly left.

_"_Mmhmm?_" _He finally mumbled, inquisitive._ "_That wouldn't be awful. If it's not too much trouble, of course._"_

_"_You are a saint and a treasure, Sanae. I'll call you later._ Oh and Neku says hi, don't you Neku?"_ There wasn't even the slightest hesitation as he said it.

Being caught red handed, he replied meekly as he walked into the restroom. "Uh, sure."

Joshua was standing with his back against the sink, facing the door and the pale faced Neku. He didn't fully acknowledge the interloper. "Sanae says hi back. Chat with you later then. Bye." After pocketing the phone he greeted Neku in a reserved manner.

"Can I help you?"

"I didn't mean to listen in to-"

"But you did." Joshua calmly interrupted. "You could have turned around and gone back to class at any moment, but you did not."

"No. I didn't. I fucked up and I admit it, okay?"

The calculated, slow blink in response spoke words that Joshua did not need to articulate. Some people when angry are loud, threatening and perhaps even explosive. Then there are those like Joshua whose arctic contempt hangs in the air, a thick and menacing cloud. The restroom felt uncomfortably small as if the presence of disdain overwhelmed the space provided. Neku was reminded of the first impression that he had given him. A certain degree of disquietude lingered around Joshua like the trailing cape following a royal. Neku got the feeling that he should leave.

"What, might I ask, was so interesting that you felt the need to eavesdrop, hm?"

"Josh, I'm sorry-"

"Answer the question please, Neku." He enunciated the words carefully as if speaking to a child.

"I-it… the thing is, it sounded too serious for me to barge in and curse you out like I planned on."

"So you chose to invade my privacy instead of waiting for another time to engage in your prank?"

"No! I mean… I guess? I don't know, it just kind of worried me."

His brows creased in bafflement. "It doesn't concern you."

Trying to lighten the mood, he cracked a weak smile. "If you're out camping hobo-style, then who the hell am I going to annoy in class?"

Joshua stood in silence for a moment, evaluating Neku. His shoulders loosened and the disturbing aura dissipated. He still spoke coldly, yet the tone was not as sharp as it had been moments ago.

"Glad to know that I'm a fount of amusement for you."

"Can I ask about the whole situation though, or-?"

"You heard the important parts of it anyway, so why does it matter?"

"I'd like to get the full picture."

"Maybe some other time, Neku." He slid the phone out of his pocket just enough to see the time, "it seems while you were being immature, the rest of the class has expired."

"Shit, really? I should head out then."

"Yes," Joshua concurred, "you should."

Neku took a step back and pushed the door open, leaving with a friendly 'see you later'. There was a sound of acknowledgement from the figure leaning against the sink. Neku could feel the eyes following him until the door behind him swung shut.

* * *

While he was still friendly after the incident, Joshua was no longer his flowery, talkative self. He would engage in small talk, speaking about the state of the weather, the economy, and society at large but the flowing river of sarcastic humor and remarks lessened. Hearing him speak idly about the current chance of precipitation for the evening did not fit him. He willing to say that it was worse than when Joshua was upset and full of contempt. This had gone on for several classes. Neku was thoroughly kicking himself for being such an idiot, feeling like he just botched any budding friendship with Joshua. Math was beginning to resume flat experience that he remembered.

Class was ending and those who still attended put their belongings away as they had done many times before, Neku one of them.

"Say Neku?" Joshua said to the emptying classroom.

He responded, "Yeah?"

"I have a favor to ask. Or call in rather, since you still owe me one."

He had forgotten about the 'favor' of the first day, "What?"

"Be a dear and break into this place for me." He scribbled something on a piece of paper, handing it to Neku. It was an address.

Very nearly dropping the paper, he yelped "What?!"

"Break into this place. That means enter illegally."

"I know what it means, but why the hell-?"

"Because I'm asking you to." It was said matter-of-factly.

"That's not a good reason. If I get my ass hauled off to jail are you going to bail me out?"

Joshua raised his hand to his chest as if offended by the thought, "Oh god no! If you get caught it means you weren't doing it right. Jail is as good as punishment for inadequacy as I can think of."

"Are you serious?"

"Dead."

"Guess what, if I get pumped full of lead by a trigger happy redneck, that's what I will be too. So no, I'm not breaking into a fucking house."

"The people that live there don't have guns, don't be ridiculous."

That raised alarm bells all over the place, "How do you know that?"

"I have my sources."

This was the longest they had spoken since Neku listened in to his call. He really did want to be back on good terms, but this was taking it a bit too far. It seemed unfortunately fitting that Joshua's attempt to give Neku another chance involved a felony. Was he surprised? Initally, sure, but now he didn't know why he didn't see it coming. Nothing with this punk could ever be simple or easy.

Joshua shrugged, "It's your call."

Neku doubted that. It felt like a 'my way or the highway' offer. He would have scoffed at the suggestion to get back on speaking terms by committing a crime (not because he was a particularly outstanding citizen, it was just more effort than it was worth), but he got along well with so few people that he was hesitant to decline.

"I-I'll… think about it. Since you have your sources can you at least tell me what I might get myself into over there?"

"And ruin the thrill of uncertainty? Hardly. I've got to run along now and do some errands. Whatever floats your boat, after all. Who knows, maybe you'll end up on TV." Joshua gave a little wave, walking away with a newfound spring in his step. He was enjoying this far too much.

* * *

The rest of the day was spent distractedly mulling over how to tackle the problem. How was he supposed to even start with this? He could drive over at night and-

Wait, what the hell was he thinking? This is a _felony_, breaking into some random person's house for the sake of entertaining that squirrely ass Joshua. He could get caught, shot, kicked out of college if they ever found out who it was, and any number of other equally terribly outcomes. It was 100% idiotic and obscene.

But why did he feel like he had been issued a challenge? And more so, why did he almost want to do it? It couldn't be for something as menial as impressing Joshua, he assured himself. Maybe he had some deep seated urge to be a criminal. Picturing it, he imagined himself confessing to the cops that he had broken into some poor person's house because a classmate he had known less than a month had asked him to. Great, they were sure buy that one.

This dawned on Neku as the single stupidest idea that had ever dared to cross his brain, which is saying something seeing as he survived high school. It continued to dawn on him as he waited until eleven at night, got into his car and sat behind the steering wheel. Both hands gripping the top of the wheel until they were white at the knuckles.

He shouldn't be doing this. He damn right shouldn't be doing this. But he was, and he was regretting it every second of the drive to this place.

From the address, it seemed to be a few miles west of his apartment. The light ahead of him felt like it was red for an absurd amount of time, silently glared down at him in rigid judgement. He was the only person at the stop. The air itself wanted to be hostile, there was not even a breath of wind. Neku cruised for another handful of minutes before the building appeared, the numbers stuck on the mailbox matched the address. This was it.

Not sure what to expect, the house didn't match his notion of the perfect 'target' home. It wasn't a grandiose mansion, or a large house, or even a particularly well kept dwelling. The wood paneling on the sides were flaking off big chips of white paint and the yard was unkempt, scraggly looking with weeds and vines creeping up the walls. Neku knew this part of the neighborhood could be unfriendly to those caught out after the day hours. He didn't want to be here long.

Actually, he didn't want to be here at all! This place was raunchy, the thing he was here for was illegal, and all fingers pointed to the fact that he was going to have a bad time. He parked the dinged up grey coop his in a discreet spot down the road, where the flickering and popping streetlights didn't reach. Sitting in silence, he leaned back in the driver's seat, coming to terms with this whole deal.

_This is so fucking stupid._ He thought, not for the last time of the night. Neku got out of his car, careful to shut the door quietly and lock it. Then he made his way on foot to the residence, pulling the hood of the sweatshirt over his head. A dog barked a few houses down. All the lights in the windows facing the street were out. It was quiet.

Only a certain level of appearing to be normal person out for a stroll can be achieved when you are repeatedly glancing over the shoulder and power-walking. Picking up the pace, he arrived at the edge of the property, cutting through the lawn around to the back. There was no fence and no distinction between tangled, overgrown front yard and tangled, overgrown back yard. One continuous mess of dew laden grass that tried to ensnarl in his shoelaces. Neku trudged his way to the back door, a beaten and dented metal rectangle that looked like it could fall off the hinges at any moment.

He tentatively tried the door knob and, to his surprise, found it yielding. The door was open. Gingerly pushing it further, it gave a muffled creak and provided space enough to where he could slip through. Hesitating, Neku looked through the gap in the door that emptied into the blackness of the home's interior. It was now or never. Here's hoping that it wasn't occupied at this hour, he stepped foot inside the unknown dwelling.

Neku's first thought, upon stepping into the house he had now technically broken into, was that he should turn around and bolt like a hare from hounds. He could say that he broke into the place, he just hadn't taken anything or gone more than a few feet into the darkened alcove. Joshua hadn't specifically said to steal anything, just break into the house.

Ugh, but then how could he prove that he had? He didn't ever want to have a repeat of this. Deciding against his thready morals, he scanned the room around him. It was a narrow projection of the house, with a battered washing machine to his left and several mounds of presumably funky towels heaped near it. There was a doorway off to the side and one ahead that looked like it went to the living room or main area. Neku inched towards the threshold on his right as noiselessly as the wooden floors allowed him. Air inside his lungs ached because he wanted to make as little sound as possible.

Peering around the corner he froze, looking into the dimly lit space. A bed centered in the room had a suspicious pile and for a few moments Neku could have sworn it was moving. After staring, unblinking at it for well over a minute, he realized that it was in fact, stationary. On the wall next to the bed, the closet stood open with hanger strewn about in disarray and a trail of clothes leading up to the bed.

The gears turning in his head practically let out a victory screech when he realized it was a pile of clothes and not a person. Daring to have a moment of relief, he let out a tiny sigh and proceeded. Thankfully, the room was pretty empty. A short bookcase near the closet held a couple of books and an odd ornament that played with the light from the reflecting window. Neku eyed it for a second, deciding that it was the only object worth taking in this room without going near the massive load of laundry. Tip-toeing towards the bookcase, he caught the scent of old clothes from the pile. Not dirty, just ancient.

On the dusty shelf was a glass, metal and wood shape. The dark wooden base at the bottom supported a weird, short pane of glass that stuck up from it vertically. There was also metal (or at least, fake gold colored plastic) that lined the outer rims of the base. It was too dark in the room to see what the tiny cursive inscription was on the plaque facing outwards. An award or art statue of some kind, probably valuable but not 'life in jail' valuable. Without giving it second glance, he shoved it in his backpack and creeped away toward the exit.

* * *

Air! Fresh air free of funky clothes and illegal activities, Neku thought, he had the urge to laugh due to pent up nervousness. The scolding feeling of guilt which he had kept away from being caught up in what he was doing returned.

Shit. He'd just broken into someones house and stolen their belongings.

Echoing again through his mind was the word of the week that wouldn't leave him alone. This was such a _stupid_ idea. Joshua had better stop being an asshole or he would- he would- okay he didn't know what he would do. It was going to be unpleasant and painful though.

* * *

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

~~~Author's Note:

Still no idea where this is headed, I'm running with it for now! Thanks for reading, folks, it's always appreciated. Apologies for the delay, finals were rough this semester. (also ack, typos.)


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